Translation of letter from
Siegfried and Christel Federle
24 Nov 1980

When my parents got married in 1908, my father was in
Rummelsburg county, a teacher. He also conducted a big
choral society for men. There were born my (3) older
brother and sisters. Father applied after a while for a
rural teacher's job, one hour away from home. It was before
the first World War that teachers going to villages would
get also a lot of land with the job.

Father was a farmer's son and he loved the work. It was in
his blood. We had one cow, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese.
When father was, in 1915, killed in action, mother moved
back to the city. It was most for the children to be able
to go to school. I finished in 1931. I took for one year,
home economics in Weimar, Thueringen County. Now I chose my
profession as a nursery teacher. It took me two years in
Stettin, the capital of Pommern, on the Oder. In January of
1939, I took a job in Danzig, Poland. The population was
German. After World War I, we lost this part of our
country. I opened a day care center in the part of the
German occupation until 1941. I moved back near
Rummelsburg. After two years in 1943, I was sent to take a
seminar for one year in Stettin. All over the Balkan where
German groups were, the used to send their children to take
German and we helped them very much. Then came the war and
the sad end of it didn't let us continue the work.

The people had been in camps and later settled. I couldn't
use, after 1945, my profession because of political reasons.
I went to Berlin as a nurse in a hospital. I got married in
1948 and my husband was also no more in his old position.
He was senior civil servant in Berlin. We had big luck!!
Good friends offered us a job as warden in a cottage in the
beautiful Sauerland. It was in the middle of the forest.
My husband carried on a donkey the food from the valley and
with a help we took care of 24 people. In that time, I gave
birth to my three children. We had a lot of work with all
the people. We had good friends and made more. It was a
good time for us when it was in Germany a lot of poverty.
We came from Pommern what became Polish. We lost everything
and how nice you helped us from the U.S.A. with clothing,
shoes ... we will never forget it! We stayed on for eight
years until we could no longer work. It was too hard. In
the meantime my husband received the recognition for his
pension and we intend to retire into the Black Forest. We
bought our house with the very little money we had, but in
the summer we had four rooms with six beds for rent. We
gave breakfast for the guests and everything went well. In
the winter we had the house for ourselves. After 10 years
we gave up. The house was big so in 1968, Gerda came to us
and one year later, Dorthea. I cooked for all and Gerda
helped a lot in the house and in the garden. Dorthea took
care of the flowers. She is for her 85 years very active
and alert. She has a lot of friends and keeps up her mail.
She had to answer 40 letters for her birthday. We regret
very much, Hilda, that we can not receive you... That would
be very nice to be together and to be able to get to know
each other.
Maybe one day it comes true!
From the bottom of our hearts we wish it.

Siegfried and Christel,